We received some much-needed rain over the past week - coupled with windy weather, many of our autumn leaves have come down except for the beech and oak - but there are still pockets of good color here and there. Mornings have been chilly and a few days haven’t gotten out of the 40s and so we made a fire in the wood stove a few times.

On Sunday morning we were walking along the Willowemoc with our beagle and noticed a trout rising (once) below Hazel bridge. However, it was the only trout we noticed in the pool!

Despite the rain we received, the Beaverkill and Willowemoc are still quite low; on Monday afternoon, the Beaverkill at Cooks Falls was recorded as flowing at 114 cubic feet per second. The average flow for this date over 102 years of record-keeping is 295 cfs.

The East Branch Delaware at Fishs Eddy is faring better, being recorded at 720 cfs, as compared to the average flow of 717 cfs over 61 years of record-keeping. thanks to increased reservoir releases, with water temperatures last week from a high of just 48 degrees last Monday to a low of 41 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday morning.

The West Branch at Hale Eddy was flowing at 779 cubic feet per second, well above the 52-year average flow of 368 on this date. Water temperatures this past week ranged from a high of 58 degrees last Monday to a low of 46 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday.

It looks as though many Willowemoc and Beaverkill trout fishers have put away their fishing rods for the year…. and although there is still fishing available in the special regulations and catch-and-release “No Kill areas”, it’s probably just as well that they have, to let the trout recover from the drought and settle in for the winter.